NicOx asks for COB investigation on share dealing

NicOx, a French pharmaceutical firm, has asked the Commission des Opérations de Bourse (COB), the French securities regulator, to investigate heavy volumes of share trading in its stock ahead of a release giving results from the testing of a new drug.

The company said in a statement that it has requested an investigation "regarding transactions in its stock during the weeks preceding the press release issued by NicOx and AstraZeneca on February 18, 2003".